First things first -- who is the Developer / Builder ?

Apparently Real Estate is all about Location. If you've heard it once -- you've heard it a thousand times, the most important thing to know about Real Estate is " Location / Location / Location !!! "

As to the second most important thing -- in the world of Condominiums that factor really ought to be " Builder / Builder / Builder, " -- or like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid used to continually ask " Who Are Those Guys? "

Go into any sales office on any given weekend, and the one thing you'll probably notice is that they're all relatively the same. As the actual building of the property doesn't usually start until the property is 65% to 70% SOLD (when the financing usually kicks in), most properties are sold visa vie drawings, model suites and marketing campaigns. In other words, the vast majority of new condominium Buyers out there are forced to buy into an idea and/or concept of what might be -- long before they really know what they'll be getting. Given the recent stregnth of our market, this hasn't been all bad, given that many condominiums have gone up in value by as much as 20% to 25% prior to actual occupancy (ie./ as it often takes 2.5 to 3 years to actually complete some of these condominium projects -- the market has often driven the relative value of these properties up quite substantially during this interim period of time).

Nonetheless, if you take into account that so many of these sales centre's look alike, make similar promises, and require a potential Buyer to make decisions based solely upon diagrams and/or model suites etc... -- is there any real way for a Buyer to differentiate up front (before the property is built) between the really great proposition and the one that may well under-deliver and/or under-perform initial expectations. Of all the factors one could try and take into account, the one that really matters is who the Developer / Builder might be. That said -- given that most sales centre's really don't and/or can't offer very much more than a tertiary and/or superficial description of the players involved in their project, where can a Buyer turn to, to get this vital if not key information? For better or for worse, the only practical source of information is probably a third party such as someone within the Development industry itself and/or someone with the Real Estate profession. Mind you, as many Real Estate practioners' aren't really up to speed on what differentiates the various Developers / Builders from one another -- this third party counsel really ought to be someone who knows and cares about the Condominium arena, and who is consequently well informed about the myriad options out there. Hence, this really ought to be someone who's been in the industry for some time, and consequently has first hand knowledge of most of the projects out there -- and what in consequence differentiates one Developer / Builder from another.

As someone who started his career as a sales representative for numerous Condominium Developers, and has in-turn maintained a close eye on this portion of the market, I can tell you without hesitation that there are in fact HUGE differences between how Developers operate, how Builders' build, and how in-turn their projects turn out. As a general matter of course, I consequently tend to try and steer my clients towards maybe 10 or 12 of the better entities out there, as opposed to having them try and consider everything. Given that there can and often are 100 to 200 projects going on within Toronto at any given time, this (as it implies) suggests that their are really only a small percentage of Developers / Builders -- who are creating the kinds of projects that will genuinely out-perform (no matter what the under-lying market conditions are) / that won't invariably create a project riddled with deficiencies / and that will at least come close to providing the kind of end product initially promised by the sales and/or marketing staff.

If all of this sounds a little daunting and/or frightening (esepcially the part about talking to a Realtor) -- you can always try and talk to someone (anyone) who has previously bought a property built by the self-same Developer / Builder you are currently considering. If in fact the property you're considering isn't the Builders' first foray into the Condominium market - this shouldn't be too hard to accomplish, as most builders will high-light any projects they have built in the past. If on the other hand, you're chosen project is in fact a " first-time " foray into the Development arena, you may well have to do a little more digging before finding the kinds of resources that can and might vouch for some of the participants in question. If you don't and/or won't do your' home-work, I guess it really will be a matter of " Caveat Emptor " and/or Luck -- but for those of you who don't really believe in Luck, and thus are more than willing to be a little leary (especially up-front) a little bit of home-work might well go a long way. Failing that -- you could always call me, and as long as it's a project (Developer / Builder) I have some knowledge of, I'd be happy to provide some third party feedback. Hey -- and if your'
worried about cheating on your' home-work, don't be -- I promise I won't tell anyone!

Thomas Hoeher (416) 879-1076